A scrappier Scrooge in Cambridge

Wednesday

Debra Wise is a bit of an expert on “A Christmas Carol.” She’s got a small cache of “Christmas Carol” movies, and she’s prone to multiple viewings during this time of year.

Her favorite version is the 1951 film that starred Alastair Sim.

“His performance is so completely transformational,” she says, adding that she appreciates the subtle shadings of his portrayal of Scrooge. “When you meet him, he’s not a monster. He’s just full of defenses. He’s chosen to keep his own company. That Alastair Sim version makes me laugh and cry every time I see it.”

Chuckles and tears – admirable goals for any production of “Christmas Carol.” Wise is shooting for both as she adapts and directs the classic Christmas tale, which runs Nov. 24 to Dec. 31 at the Central Square Theater in Cambridge.

“We haven’t staged ‘A Christmas Carol’ in a long time,” says Wise, artistic director of the Underground Railway Theater, which is producing the show along with the Nora Theatre Company. “Our holiday shows have been a little less traditional, like ‘Arabian Nights’ and ‘Journey to the West.’ But in the current political climate, it just seems like the right time to revive ‘Christmas Carol.’”

Does that mean that in this production we’ll see Donald Trump, dressed in pajamas and a stocking cap, receive visits from the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future? Wise laughs at the image, but that’s not where she’s heading with this show.

“At first blush, you could think Scrooge and Trump are the same,” says Wise. “But the more you explore that idea, the less interesting it becomes. It’s more interesting to look at the Scrooge inside ourselves.”

Dig into Scrooge’s psychology and you find lots to analyze.

“He was damaged in his childhood, and he’s walled himself off from life,” says Wise. “It’s led him to be unfeeling. He’s isolated. He’s alone. And our connections with other human beings are what make life worth living.”

Charles Dickens’ “Christmas Carol” is an almost perfect story. There’s something heartwarming about the notion of transformation, about the possibility for us all to be better versions of ourselves. That’s why audiences and adapters return to “Christmas Carol” again and again and again.

The perfection of the tale explains why it’s become a holiday tradition. “A Christmas Carol” was an immediate hit when Dickens self-published the story in 1843, and some historians believe that the emphasis we now place on family, food and festivities during this holiday is in part a result of the cultural impact of the story.

In addition, “A Christmas Carol” adapts beautifully to the stage. Not only do audiences get the pageantry of music and dance, the show also adheres to one of the core principles of good theater: the audience gets to watch the evolution of a character. Protagonists should be different at the end of a play than they are at the start. The role of Scrooge provides one of the most vivid and inspiring transformations in stage history.

“I think we realized we wanted to tell the story of the reclamation of a soul,” says Wise. “Scrooge has lost his connection with humanity. In order for things to come back into balance, Scrooge has to come back into the human race.”

Wise believes she may have the perfect actor to lead audiences through the journey: talented local actor Ken Cheeseman, who tends to elevate any play in which he’s cast.

Wise was struggling to find the right Scrooge, and then she thought of Cheeseman. But he was out of town and unavailable to audition. So Cheeseman made a video of himself playing Scrooge, and he sent it to Wise. It knocked her Christmas socks off.

“I knew immediately he would be the perfect Scrooge,” says Wise, a Cambridge resident since 1979. “He broke my heart with his authentic peeling-away of [Scrooge’s] doubts and fears and angers. He revealed the child-man underneath.”

“Christmas Carol” is one of those rare stories that resonates with both parents and kids, making it a great family choice during the holiday season. In Wise’s version, families will be represented both in the audience and on stage: Wise’s husband, David Fichter, is one of the designers of the show, and their daughter Eliza is in the cast.

They’ve set this production in a time period that hovers between the Victorian Age and modern times. Fichter painted murals for the set, and the production also features puppets.

It’s all in service of a story that so often and so effectively penetrates the heart.

“I want to create a ‘Christmas Carol’ that connects with the audience emotionally,” says Wise. “I want people to feel Scrooge’s pain and his transformation. I want them to feel his joy and giddiness in rediscovering pleasure.”

In the end, Wise sees “Christmas Carol” as a kind of “cautionary tale,” a reminder that we must resist the Scrooge-like instincts within all of us.

“We can’t let this happen to ourselves,” she says, “and we can’t let it happen to the people we love.”